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Tarek Elrich
| cityofbirth = Sydney | countryofbirth = Australia | dateofdeath = | cityofdeath = | countryofdeath = | height = | position = Defender | currentclub = | clubnumber = 21 | youthyears = | youthclubs = | years = 2005–2006 2006–2012 2012–2013 2013–2018 2018– | clubs = Sydney Olympic FC Newcastle Jets Western Sydney Wanderers Adelaide United | caps(goals) = 2 (0) 134 (4) 11 (0) 23 (0) | nationalyears = | nationalteam = | nationalcaps(goals) = | manageryears = | managerclubs = }} Tarek Elrich (born 1 January 1987) is an Australian international football (soccer) player who plays as a right back and midfielder for Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League. Elrich was born in Sydney, Australia. He started his senior career with Sydney Olympic, before moving to Newcastle Jets in 2006. In 2012, he moved to new club Western Sydney Wanderers before moving again to Adelaide United one season later. Tarek played youth football for Australia, before being called up to the Lebanon national team in 2012. However, he was ruled to be ineligible, having been an unused substitute for Australia in 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification. He was later called up for Australia once again, and made his debut in early 2015. Early life Elrich grew up in Auburn, Sydney, and is of Lebanese descent. His brother Ahmad is also an international footballer. Tarek attended Granville Boys High School. Club career Early career Elrich played youth football at a number of clubs, including Parramatta Eagles in the NSW Premier Youth League, the Australian Institute of Sport and Sydney Olympic in the NSW Premier League. Newcastle Jets Elrich debuted in the A-League during the 2005–06 season, where which he only made three league appearances. Elrich again only made a handful of league appearances (five) during the 2006–07 season as Newcastle finished in third place on the A-League ladder. He scored his first A-League goal in the 2007–08 season during Newcastle's 3–2 preliminary final extra-time win against Queensland Roar on 17 February 2008. Elrich scored in the 111th minute. Newcastle went on to eventually beat Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the final and qualify for the 2009 AFC Champions League. During the 2007–08 season, Elrich faced his brother, Ahmad Elrich, in a 2–1 home victory against Wellington Phoenix on 14 October 2007. Elrich scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–2 home draw against Wellington Phoenix on 6 October 2008. One month later, he scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–2 away draw against Perth Glory on 9 November 2008. Having increased his appearances during the 2007–08 season and 2008–09 season, he attracted the attention of then, Australian national team coach Pim Verbeek, who included Elrich in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match in January 2009. Elrich debuted in the 2009 AFC Champions League in a 2–0 away defeat against Beijing Guoan on 10 March. He scored his first AFC Champions League goal in a 1–1 away draw against Nagoya Grampus on 7 April, scoring the first goal of the game after 9 minutes. Elrich participated in all of Newcastle's group stage fixtures as they finished in second position of their respective group. Newcastle qualified for the knockout stages where they were eventually eliminated in the round of 16 in a 6–0 away defeat to Pohang Steelers on 24 June. Elrich went on to make 29 league appearances during the 2009–10 season, where he received his first red card in the 90th minute of a 2–1 away defeat to Sydney on 20 September 2009. During the 2011–12 season, Elrich received his second A-League red card in the 53rd minute of a 2–1 away defeat to Melbourne Victory on 7 January 2012. Over one month later, Elrich scored the only goal in the 39th minute of a 1–0 home victory against Adelaide United on 24 February 2012. Newcastle finished the season in 7th position of the A-League ladder with 35 points. At the conclusion of the 2011–12, Perth Glory and Sydney expressed interest in signing Elrich as Newcastle did not offer an extension to his contract. Western Sydney Wanderers It was confirmed on 25 June 2012 that Elrich had signed with Western Sydney for the 2012–13 season. He was one of the club's first three signings, along with Aaron Mooy and Kwabena Appiah-Kubi. Elrich, along with teammates Dino Kresinger, Joey Gibbs and Rocky Visconte were released by the Wanderers at the conclusion of the 2012–13 A-League season. Adelaide United Following limited success with the Wanderers, Elrich was signed by Adelaide United for the 2013–14 season. He won his first silverware with Adelaide as part of the 2014 FFA Cup winning side. In the 2014–15 A-League season, Elrich scored a fantastic solo goal against Melbourne City in a 4–1 win with some pundits claiming the goal to be worthy of the yearly Puskas award. After a fantastic season at right-back with the Reds, he was selected in the 2014–2015 PFA Team of the Year. In recognition of his run of form, Elrich was awarded a 2-year contract extension on 29 September 2015 running through to the 2017–18 A-League season. Return to Western Sydney Wanderers After 5 years at Adelaide United, on 9 May 2018, Elrich left to return to Western Sydney Wanderers, signing a two-year contract. External links * Tarek Elrich at Soccerway Elrich Category:Players Category:Australian players Category:Living people Category:1987 births Category:Australia under-20 international players Category:A-League players Category:National Soccer League (Australia) players Category:Newcastle Jets FC players Category:Sydney Olympic FC players Category:Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Category:Adelaide United FC players Category:Parramatta FC players